Fire destroys shed, damages house

Raymond Legendre Staff Writer

Wednesday

Oct 24, 2007 at 11:19 AMOct 24, 2007 at 12:44 PM

RACELAND -- Raceland resident Edward Mays took a momentary break Tuesday afternoon from repairing an sports-utility vehicle in his shed. He went inside his house to change his shoes, not knowing his home was about to be completely consumed in flames.

During the five minutes he spent inside, he smelled nothing, heard nothing -- other than the sounds of "The Peopleís Court" on his television, he said.

Then came a fateful knock on his door. It was his neighbor telling him to leave his house immediately. Maysí shed was on fire.

Aided by a northeasterly wind, the fire quicklly stretched to Maysí attic before engulfing the three-bedroom house he called home the past nine years.

All Mays -- who had been using a blowtorch to repair the SUV -- could do was watch in numb silence from across the street, as firefighters shot water into the living room of 263 Ayo St. through a gaping hole in its roof.

"Itís pretty surreal," said Mays, who was the houseís only occupant. "You never imagine it could happen to you."

Despite the efforts of firefighters from Raceland and Bayou Blue, who responded shortly after 2 p.m., the yellow wooden house suffered substantial damage to its interior. The Lockport Volunteer Fire Department also aided with a truck.

"The house is destroyed more or less," said Gregg Falgout, assistant chief of Lafourche Fire District No. 1 in Raceland. The roof caved in, the combination of debris in the attic and the waterís weight, he said.

Mays, who owns LNS Auto Sales in Raceland, estimates he had 15 vehicles in his backyard. None of those vehicles were damaged.

He worked on a Chevrolet Suburban in the minutes before the fire. The blaze left the vehicle a charred shell.

"This is something I did everyday for the last five years," said Mays, a certified welder.

The shed contained several flammable materials, including oxygen, paint thinners and a canister of gasoline. Falgout said there was a "high probability" the fire began in the shed. The assistant chief added that the fireís cause has yet to be determined.

The reason the fire spread could be attributed, at least in part, to the dayís breezy weather conditions.

"The wind didnít help," Falgout said. "Oxygen enriches the air and feeds the fire."

Mays, a native of Greenville, Miss., moved with his wife and their two kids to Ayo Street nine years ago in search of a job as a welder. The couple is now estranged.

Mays relinquished his welding job when he was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer that affects the immune system.

He has had two bouts of cancer treatment and is currently in remission. He also received a stem-cell transplant three years ago at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

Asked how he would face this latest blow, Mays shrugged, noting his current concern is finding a place to stay. All his relatives live in Mississippi, he noted.

"I just know I have to go on," he said. "Everyday I wake up with breath in my body I consider a blessing. I just know every time I get up it could be worse. I thank God for a new day and go on from there."

Staff Writer Raymond Legendre can be reached at 448-7617.

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